


the call

by awkwardspaceturtle (CastelloFlare)



Series: dumbstruck [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 16:43:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7581895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastelloFlare/pseuds/awkwardspaceturtle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do people start phone call conversations again? How do people actually start conversations at all? </p><p> </p><p>(also; in which Shiro grows a pair, and dials Keith's number)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the call

**Author's Note:**

> YO FAM  
> thank you so much for the positive response on my 'crush' fic  
> this is to everyone who has enjoyed #PiningShiro  
> thank you for reading!

 

How he even got the guts to make the call, he wasn’t too sure. It took him almost four whole days to convince himself that Keith hadn’t scribbled a fake number on his sketchpad – actually, it took a lot of persuasion on Allura’s part, and some lesson in Philosophy about time and youth that led to this particular night. Albeit unnecessary, Shiro actually brushed his teeth twice. And flossed.

Now, sitting on his bed with his phone in hand, his initial bravado had slowly passed like sugar rush, and was giving way to insidious anxiety and extreme perspiration. What if it was actually a fake number? Or, even if it was actually Keith’s, what if he only wanted him to call because it would be less awkward than calling him a creep to his face? Finding out someone kept a thick sketchpad with nothing but sketches of you _was_ pretty weird, given that they were less than acquaintances.

But this phone number was proof of the opposite of that. This phone number was the way for Shiro to bypass the stranger- and acquaintance-zones, and Keith had willingly given it.

Before he could second-guess himself any further, he looked for Keith’s number scribbled in his sketchpad once more – passing all of the portraits of Keith’s expressions he’s already memorized – and dialed it on his phone.

Before the first ring had ended, the person at the end of the line suddenly picked up.

_Hello?_

Shiro suddenly gave a start, lurching from his bed. The voice; it was Keith. But of course. Who else would have his number? Shiro blanched, unsure of what to say. How do people start phone call conversations again? How do people actually start conversations _at all_? When did the temperature get so high, and the air so thin?

 _… Hello?_ Keith spoke yet again, this time sounding unsure.

“H-hi.” Shiro blurted out, sounding a little too eagerly. _Wow,_ he thought to himself. Although he stuttered, he got a real and comprehensible word out.

_… Wow._

“Pardon?” Shiro said. Did Keith just echo his own thoughts?

_I thought you’d never call._

Shiro’s mouth hung open, yet he couldn’t process or say anything coherent at all at the dawning realization of Keith actually _waiting_ for his call – but it didn’t matter because a sudden uproar erupted at the other end of the line and distracted Keith from whatever dumb thing Shiro was probably going to say.

 _Oh my god. Is it_ that _guy??_

_Put him on loud speaker! But, like, don’t tell him we’re here. Oh wait, we’re being too loud aren’t we…?_

_He’s actually calling_ you _? My hero, Takashi Shirogane, the fucking legend, is calling the mundane, stupid you???_

_CAN EVERYONE PLEASE JUST GET OFF MY BACK FOR A SECOND—LANCE STOP BITING MY FUCKING BIKE—EVERYBODY GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME—_

_So it_ is _that guy—_

_Quiznak, he’s running away—!_

_Listen, Shiro, my man, Keith can’t fucking pronounce a word that’s more than three syllables, he’s not good enough for you— ow—!_

Then came a series of annoyed groans and more profanities, of shuffling footsteps and doors opening and closing – and then, the sound of silence. A couple of awkward ticks went by before Shiro thought it was a good time to say something.

“Are you busy—?”

_Sorry about that—_

They both spoke simultaneously that they also instantly paused to let the other speak first. For a moment there was only dead air, either of them too polite to actually say anything.

_Okay, you go first._

“No, no, _I’m_ sorry,” Shiro said, bowed his head to no one in particular, and felt a little stupid right after. “ _You_ go first.”

_No, really, you go – okay, screw that. Man, I hope we don’t turn out to be that couple who does those kinds of cheesy things over the phone._

“W-wait, phone the hold—I mean, hold the phone—”

 _I_ am _literally holding the phone._

“N-no, I-I—then you—I mean, you said—us—”

Shiro’s usually sound and rational mind was struggling to keep up with what Keith just said. Apparently, he had just dropped the ‘C’-word – which Allura would later wrongly guess as _‘cunt’_ or _‘creep’_ – and Shiro could swear his room just turned into a fucking sauna. His heart had transformed itself into a drum, and was beating wildly against his rib cage – was it possible to die from something like this? Also, how does one form words again?

_Wasn’t this why you called me? To ask me out?_

Keith sounded legitimately curious, and just a tad bit demanding, even, as if he was already sure of the outcome of this phone call – if there was supposed to be an outcome at all.

“I, uh, what I mean is– ” Shiro started, his palms clammy and his focus wavering. He wasn’t usually like this – as the President of the Voltron Society of Astronomy, and the Vice President of the student council, being great at dealing with people was naturally in his set of skills, and yet somehow, this one particular freshman who he’d never really properly interacted with until this moment, had already mastered the art of getting him tongue-tied and twisting his stomach into ribbons. Metaphorically cornered and mentally poopy, Shiro just blurted out what he was presently thinking.

“I’m sorry, my face is kind of really hot right now. Not in the attractive-hot kind of way, but literally hot.”

Immediately, he regretted ever saying anything at all, but then Keith made a low chuckle, and it made Shiro’s heart do an unexpected somersault.

_I think your face is actually kind of hot. And I don’t mean that in a temperature kind of way._

Now, Shiro’s face felt like it was burning. Was Keith… flirting with him? He should probably add _‘Stun’_ to the list of Keith’s social skills. Once again, he had rendered Shiro speechless. He sat frozen on his bed, mind and heart racing, both competing on which one would combust first.

_Okay, I might have been the one to put my number there so you could contact me. You could say I’m allowing you to ask me out._

“…Oh.”

_I’m basically allowing you access to hold my hand in public, pull me into bear hug, or walk me to my dorm or something, anything, as long as we get to do it together –_

Shiro was about sure that neither his heart nor mind would combust earlier than the other. Apparently, with the way things were going, his whole body was going to explode altogether. He could swear he was already seeing stars.

_Oh my god. Just do it. Ask me the fuck out. I want you to ask me out._

“… Okay.”

_… What?_

Shiro took a deep breath. He felt like floating.

“… I want you around. Please go out with me.”

Now, it was Keith’s turn to go silent. Before Shiro could formulate a response to his silence, voices erupted into his ear.

 _Keith, are you_ blushing _?!? Your face can actually function normally?_

_He’s not brooding anymore. This is what I call character development._

_Shiro, my man , are you still there? Hasn’t Keith bored you to death yet?_

_Crap, they found me…! Shiro, I’ll see you tomorrow—What the hell you guys—_

And that’s how their first phone call ended.

Shiro would have wanted it to last longer, yet he also knew he would not be able last a whole night with his insides all messed up and his brain too flighty. He was also pretty sure that the last thing he said to Keith was the only coherent thing he’d be able to say that night. At least there was one thought that made him look forward to the next day:

He’ll be seeing Keith tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to hmu on tumblr, this is the cheese loving sap, eruriholic  
> thank you for leaving kudos/comments <3


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